Abstract for: The effect of capability building and capability erosion delays on learning in dynamic environments

Delays in dynamic tasks create difficulties for decision makers in finding optimal strategies and lead to under-sampling choices that have long-term benefits but may appear suboptimal in the short term. This is particularly common in capacity-building scenarios known as the capability trap. Through a system dynamics model that simulates the effects of a capability trap model used in the context of humanitarian response we create an online experiment. The experiment looks to test the effect of delays in both capacity building and capacity erosion on decision-makers formation of cognitive maps of superior choices and strategies and delay structures.